Body fat may accelerate brain aging

April 30, 2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES --

Our brains are going to age no matter what we do, but there is something we can do to slow it down -- lose weight.Researchers at the V.A. Hospital, using high-tech brain scans, found overweight people have lower levels of certain brain chemicals, and specifically chemicals that are markers for brain health. That lead experts to believe that excess body fat may be linked with poorer brain function.